Welcome to Timberwatch

Civil Society Perspectives of

'Forestry'

Making the voices of Global Civil Society heard and heededduring the 14th World Forestry Congress

(WFC2015)

in Durban, South Africa, 7-11 September 2015

“Forests” and People: Investing in a “Sustainable” Future, or ‘Corporations and Plantations: Undermining Earth’s Integrity’?

A call for events, presentations, displays and videos

BackgroundIn parallel to the World Forestry Congress (WFC2015) being held in Durban this September, local and international civil society organisations will be hosting a separate programme of activities and events aimed at providing a broader perspective of what "forestry" and "forest industry" mean to the indigenous peoples, local communities, wildlife, and natural ecosystems that bear the direct and indirect environmental and socio-economic effects of industrial logging in forests, large-scale tree plantations that replace farmland and natural habitats, and industrial timber processing activities that pollute air, soil and water.

As part of the civil society programme planned for the week of 7th to 11th September, there will be talks, presentations, debates, slide shows and video screenings to give opportunities to both international visitors and interested members of local communities to learn about the social and environmental problems that arise from large-scale production, consumption and disposal of industrially produced wood-based commodities: paper and packaging, wood chips and pellets used as fuels in energy generation, and cellulose pulp used to make cheap throw-away products.

The programme will also explore practical solutions to the land-grabbing and community displacement that industrial logging and large-scale conversion of natural habitat and farmland into sterile single-species tree plantations.

Invitation

This is a call for the submission of proposals for short (5-15 minutes) videos; short presentations on relevant research, publications and projects, as well as poster displays.Please supply subtitles in English if applicable.